HARDWICK — The Blairstown photographer frequents the old farmstead before heading to work, searching for the morning light that strikes the chipped railings and casts brilliant shadows against the house.

She walks through the early 19th century building for inspiration, finding it as she peeks out the windows. The artist lifts her camera and shoots the serene body of water across the road, capturing the tranquility of White Lake and the historic Vass Farmstead in which she stands.

Photographer Delia Quigley is one of 22 acclaimed artists to create pieces of art for a fall exhibition to benefit and showcase the Vass House, the place of inspiration for their recent creations.

"We're trying to recreate, maintain, bring back to life many of the old farmsteads and way of life that have supported our bodies and minds since the beginning of time, but are threatened by overpopulation (and) development of our land," Quigley said Friday as she finished shooting the property.

In 1812, one of Hardwick's early settlers, John Vass, built the two-story stone home for his family. The lovely edifice sat on a 550-acre working farm and orchard. After 120 years, the Vass family sold the home and property to another farmer. Essentially, the land continued to change hands from farmer to farmer until it was acquired by the Ridge and Valley Conservancy, Green Acres, Warren County and other foundations in 1997. Ownership was then given to the Conservancy and the State of New Jersey. In 1999, the property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

As part of a bicentennial celebration commemorating the limestone farmhouse, the Hardwick Township Historical Society is hosting an art exhibition, Art at Vass, featuring the Vass Homestead at the historic site on Stillwater Road.

Each artist will contribute at least one piece of art to be placed on sale at the exhibition that will be open Sundays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sept. 30 through Dec. 23.

Teri Carrazzone, of the Hardwick Township Historical Society, said the exhibition aims to showcase the artists, the farmstead and thank the Conservancy and state for assisting the society's preservation efforts.

The historical society has spent the last three years restoring the red barn that sits behind the Vass House at the cost of $435,000, said Rich Ohl, president of the Hardwick Township Historical Society.

The organization will now focus on the house itself. Ohl said the installment of a bathroom for the handicapped and restoration of the kitchen and bedrooms could be complete in one year if the society receives the $150,000 grant recently applied for through the Warren County Cultural and Heritage Commission.

Ohl envisions opening the facility to the public for educational programs, nature walks, barn dances and a variety of other functions.

The Vass Farmstead has become somewhat of a retreat for these artists. For the last three years, Knowlton resident and master painter Rita Baragona has found herself painting the area, the flora and the lake, but as a painter recruited to create art of the Vass House, Baragona turned her easel to the farmhouse. Baragona said it's unusual for her to paint structures, so the project was a growing process.

"I learned a lot," she said. "I'm better at scale now."

Baragona said she also enjoyed painting alongside other artists throughout the summer, looking at their canvases to see how differently they perceive the building and its surroundings.

"It was fun to see the different ways of representing the Vass House," Baragona said.

Baragona's husband, St. Clair Sullivan, took to the sky in his representation of the farmstead. Sullivan flew over the Hardwick farm in a single engine plane operated by his friend to take aerial photographs of the picturesque property.

Artist Bennett Bean embarked on an investigative journey to look beyond — or rather beneath — the farm and the neighboring lake for inspiration.

"I didn't want to paint a picture of a house or a flower," said Bean, whose ceramic work is a part of the White House collection.

"What was this place?" he asked himself.

Bean found that during the winter months the original Vass family collected ice from the frozen White Lake to stock its on-site ice house and during the summer months it was mined for marl, prehistoric seashells that lined the bottom of the lake. Bean drew from these findings and created a white painting — as both marl and ice are white, he reasoned — that incorporates large blocks of ice, the words "ice and marl" and Japanese calligraphy. Bean said he looked beyond "nowhere, New Jersey" during the 1850s and at what was happening around the world. He discovered U.S.

Commodore Matthew Perry opened America trade relations with Japan, hence his logic for incorporating Japanese calligraphy in his painting.

He described his work: "It's not just this guy's farm."

Despite the multitude of ideas, perceptions and the overall meaning of the Vass Farmstead to each of the 22 artists involved in Art at Vass, they all have one collective goal: To preserve the past through raising money and awareness about the historic site with their creative eye.

If you're interestedArt at Vass exhibition will be open Sundays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., from Sept. 30 to Dec. 23, at the Vass Homestead, 97 Stillwater Road, Hardwick. To learn more about Art at Vass, call 828-278-8277 or write artatvass@gmail.com.